{"id":60568,"date":"2023-07-25T09:41:23","date_gmt":"2023-07-25T16:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/creativemarket.com\/blog\/?p=60568"},"modified":"2024-03-12T15:13:15","modified_gmt":"2024-03-12T22:13:15","slug":"bits-of-inspiration-from-dan-cederholms-design-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/creativemarket.com\/blog\/bits-of-inspiration-from-dan-cederholms-design-journey","title":{"rendered":"Bits of Inspiration from Dan Cederholm\u2019s Design Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the world of design, Dan Cederholm is a household name: a master of his craft whose many creative pursuits have seen him wear many hats\u2014from designer and entrepreneur to author, musician, and even licensed captain. As a co-founder of Dribbble<\/a> and the mind behind Cork’d, Dan’s innovative spirit is evident. However, it is his insightful takes on imperfection, authenticity, and the power of community in design that are the heart of his lasting influence in our field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dan’s story is a fascinating journey of continuous learning, from his deep love of type and letterpress printing to his dabbling in display fonts \u2014 now available in his new Creative Market shop<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether you’re curious about type design, embarking on your own entrepreneurial journey, or seeking to understand the ever-blurring lines between digital and physical design, you’re in for a treat. We sat down with Dan to learn about his journey and refreshing perspective on design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>How did typography become a part of your world?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It’s kind of funny that this is what I’m doing now.<\/em> I can’t help but partially blame the pandemic a little bit on it, but truth be told, my love for type goes back since the beginning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve always been drawn to the world of type, its complexity and beauty, and the idea of creating fonts had always been at the back of my mind. Fast forward to the early 2000s, I ventured into this passion and ended up making a pixel font. This was a time when making pixel icons was trending.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this period, the tools were intimidating. I was a novice, trying to work my way through FontLab, trying to get something that worked. But I really didn’t fully grasp what was going on. The complexity of the process turned me off from making other fonts. The software became a sort of a blocker for me, unfortunately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>A walk, a vintage bank sign, and the birth of a new passion<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward a bit more, just before the pandemic, I’d been walking by this bank here in Salem, Massachusetts. It was a vintage bank sign that had been there for years. Each time I looked at it, with ‘vault alarm’ inscribed on it, I found myself drawn to the lettering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s gotta be a font.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a blend of vintage lettering, perhaps from the early 1900s. Finally, when the pandemic happened, we were all looking for things to do while we couldn’t be out.<\/p>\n\n\n

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So there I was, driven by my long-standing fascination with typography and armed with an abundance of time. And that’s how my journey with SimpleBits began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>How did you master the art of making a font?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

And I’m like, all right, you know what?<\/em> I’m going to buckle down and actually learn how to make a font. I’m going to teach myself how to do this. And I credit Glyphs, the tool, for making it all possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The moment I started using Glyphs, it clicked. This I get, I can work with this.<\/em> And from then, I just plowed through learning glyphs, trying to mimic the vintage lettering I had found, beginning with a handful of letters. Gradually, I fleshed out the rest of the alphabet, imagining what a complete set would look like. And that was how I got into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was a few years ago. I consider myself still new to this type design game. It’s kind of interesting and fun to start over again at my age, learning something completely new, stepping out of my comfort zone. I relish the process of learning something new and then sharing my experiences, helping others follow in my footsteps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>How did the pandemic change your perspective?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There was more time to just sort of ruminate on the meaning of life and what we want to spend our time doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had this extra time that I didn’t think I had. Liked I mentioned earlier, I had been walking by this sign every day for a long time. I really wanted to make this a font, but had never actually buckled down and tried it. I guess I credit the pandemic with nudging me to actually take the time to follow a passion I had been procrastinating on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>Where does the font design process start for you?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For me, it was that sign with the unique lettering that piqued my interest. Given that it was on probably a hundred-year-old building, I was confident it wasn’t an already existing font.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had the letters ‘vault’ and ‘alarm’ to begin with. That was all I had to go on. And there it was, a challenge that I loved: solving the rest of the puzzle. Because designing type is quite like puzzle-solving in a really cathartic way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creating each letter is kind of like this little self-contained puzzle that I can just immerse myself into. And it gives you a sense of accomplishment, you know: I made the ‘K’ today, or made an ‘S’, which is always difficult. It’s these little victories that made it fun for me initially. I hadn’t made a bunch of ‘S’s before, and each time I created another glyph, it was a learning experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Letters from Cartridge<\/a>, an 80s-inspired video game font<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>What has your learning process looked like?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Type design is one of those things that you’re constantly getting better at. You’re learning every time you create another glyph.<\/em> I know a lot of type designers look back at their early work and cringe because they’ve learned so much. But I kind of love that about the process, the imperfection of especially the early stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m not trying to create the next super family of fonts that will be used everywhere or for corporations. My passion lies more in crafting imperfect typefaces that have a very specific goal and use, like helping a designer create something that feels a little handmade, a bit quirky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wonky, now that’s a good word in the type design world. Wonky fonts is probably what I should have named the foundry. But that’s perhaps a tad too on the nose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>What’s the story behind SimpleBits?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Funny you should ask. So it’s SimpleBits<\/em>, which has been my company and blog name for about 20 years now. There was a moment where I thought about rebranding to Simple Type Company specifically for the fonts, and even ran with that for a little while. However, I got really overwhelmed with managing double the social media channels and twice the workload.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I realized this was getting ridiculous. Being essentially a two-person operation, I needed to consolidate and lean into the brand that has been an integral part of me. SimpleBits is me, and that’s what it should be. It’s simple, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A post shared by Dan Cederholm (@simplebits)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>